


Quiet Voices and Kind Hands Wanted

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Common Cold, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Non-Sexual Age Play, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Temper Tantrums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 01:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17715644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: Tony's been feeling crummy, but Steve can't seem to be bothered to notice.





	Quiet Voices and Kind Hands Wanted

Tony was having a bad day. He couldn't help feeling bad, his head hurt and his limbs were aching and he was sick. No one seemed to believe him when he said he was feeling yucky, though. Clint had listened for all of two minutes to Tony grumbling before he made his excuses and left the room. Bruce was in a "I-told-you-so" mood, saying that Tony should have slept days ago and that this was his body's way of telling him to slow down. Thor and Natasha weren't around, and he didn't want anything to do with either Vision or Wanda. He scrubbed at his eyes and whined. He was feeling little, and he hated being sick while little. It never ended well.

Steve was trying to make it better, in typical Steve fashion. He was trying to give Tony food, but it all tasted bad with his nose clogged up and his throat massively sore. He tried letting Tony nap, but Tony couldn't get to sleep. He even tried to let Tony watch movies, something he never let Tony do when little, but Tony didn't like any of the movies they had. For each of these problems, he had screamed and cried until his voice was hoarse, not knowing how to say that he was having a problem.

Of course, this only made Steve tired, and stressed, and the tension in the air didn't make Tony feel any better. It only made matters worse to know that he was feeling more achy, not less, and he couldn't take any Advil because he couldn't swallow the pills. So it was a small wonder it took him three hours after Steve had started taking care of him to throw a fit. He cried and screamed, and when Steve tried to ask him what was wrong, Tony just threw the crayons on the table at Steve, screams increasing in pitch.

"That's enough!" Steve roared.

Steve  _never_  roared, and that alone made Tony pause. But seeing the fury in Steve's eyes, the glower, the heaving chest, he knew he had screwed up. That sort of reaction only ever led to him getting hit, or told to toughen up and be sent away to his room for hours to "settle down," or just plain yelled at more. Even in his weakened state, Tony knew he couldn't deal with that now, not from Steve.

He sat there, frozen in time, a second too long for him to be sure he was safe. So he forced his legs to move, forced himself to vault the couch and run towards the stairs so that Steve couldn't grab him while he waited for the elevator, and dashed up to his own floor of the Tower, where he locked the door, and slumped to the ground, his head spinning.

JARVIS' voice came on over the speaker. "Sir, are you all right?"

"No," Tony whined, curling inward on himself, clutching his head. "Feel dizzy."

"Can you make it to your bed?" JARVIS asked.

"I don't know," Tony mumbled.

JARVIS chirped and chimed, and Tony felt a certain amount of calm at hearing JARVIS work. "I can call Agent Coulson, if you think that would be wise."

Tony whimpered and nodded. "Tell him to come to my floor an' not let Steve in."

There was a period of silence and then JARVIS chirped again. "Done. Agent Coulson will be up shortly, and he wants to inform you not to move if you are feeling dizzy."

Tony hummed his affirmation and soon he heard the elevator open the next room over. "Tony?" Coulson called.

"Here," Tony called back as loud as he dared, which wasn't very, considering his throat.

Coulson came running and crouched down next to him. "You don't look so hot, kid," he murmured.

Tony whined and reached out for Coulson, who scooped him up. "Let's get you to bed, hm? I can make you juice and you can rest. Not sleep if you can't, but just relax."

Tony appreciated that Coulson wasn't putting stress on him sleeping. It was considerate. And it made him feel better about laying in bed. Maybe Coulson would let him play a couple games on his tablet.

Coulson placed him down on the bed gently, maneuvering him under the covers and murmuring, "I'll be right back with juice and your tablet. No hard work, just games, okay?"

Tony nodded. He didn't want to do work like this anyway.

Coulson pat his leg and left the room, returning quickly with a sippy cup full of apple juice and his tablet. Tony reached for both gratefully and gave Coulson a smile, sucking down the juice and turning on the tablet. He was feeling a little less dizzy with something in his stomach, even if it was only apple juice.

"Tony, why don't you want Steve up here?" Coulson asked softly. "I'll respect your wishes, but it would help to know why so I can discuss it with him later."

"He yelled," Tony murmured, staring intently at his tablet. "He yelled loud and I got scared. Words were... _are_  hard."

Coulson looked decidedly unamused. "He still shouldn't have yelled at you, Tony, that's unacceptable. You may have been upset, but you're sick. He should understand that kids might get fussy when sick. He needs to be patient."

Tony silently agreed with a nod and started up a game of  _Where's My Water?_  to take his mind off it. Coulson murmured that he'd be outside if Tony needed anything, and he could get JARVIS to message him if needed. The room was quiet except for the occasional sound effect from the game, and Tony felt his eyelids start to get heavy. He was dozing when he heard a loud bang coming from where the stairwell might be, and shouting started up in his living room. Tony buried himself under his duvet and sheets as he listened to what was going on outside. "You can't come in here whenever you feel like it! This is Tony's floor, and he doesn't want you here!" Coulson exclaimed.

"I'm his caregiver, I need to know that he's okay!" Steve's voice was still raised like it was earlier and Tony tried not to whimper, to not reveal his location.

"You have a funny way of showing your concern, considering you yelled at him earlier!" Coulson shot back. Steve said nothing, so Coulson continued. "I got a message from JARVIS telling me to check on Tony, and when I came up to the floor he was huddled on the ground, too dizzy to stand and scared out of his wits! He's probably at the very least got a low-grade fever, Rogers! Did you even think to check if anything was wrong with Tony before you started yelling and scaring him?!"

There was more silence, and the conversation turned into murmurs that Tony couldn't make out clearly. Footsteps came to his bedroom door and he held his breath. "Tony, it's Coulson. Steve says he wants to apologize. Do you want to see him or do you want me to send him back downstairs?"

Tony poked his head out of the covers and rasped, "I guess he can come in...if you stay?"

"Of course," Coulson said. "I'll grab him, and remind him to not raise his voice."

There was more murmuring outside his door, and then Steve walked in, Coulson standing a step behind him with a hand on his arm to keep him from getting too close to Tony. Steve opened his mouth, but the only thing to leave it was a choked noise.

Tony sat up a little more in bed, sucking at his apple juice. His voice still really hurt. "You could say you're sorry, you know," Tony said, anger replacing his fear.

"I'm sorry, Tony," Steve said. "I should have realized you were sick. You've been fussy and throwing tantrums a lot lately, and I didn't realize it might be because you weren't feeling good. I didn't have the patience I should have had. I snapped at you when I shouldn't have. And I hate that I made you force your body beyond its limits to get away from me. It's my fault. And I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but if you're willing to give it eventually, I will gladly accept it."

Tony considered it. Steve was apologizing, which was something that his dad never did. And his eyes had that lost, kicked-puppy look that told Tony he was sincere. But did he want to forgive Steve? Not yet, not all the way. But he could always offer an olive branch. "I'm stuck on this one level. Do you think you could help me?"

Steve nodded and walked forward, looking over Tony's shoulder at the tablet.

"You going to be okay, Tony?" Coulson asked.

Tony nodded. "Thank you," he rasped.

Coulson gave a thin smile and nodded, quickly leaving the room and giving Tony and Steve some space. Tony shifted on the bed, letting Steve sit next to him, and the two played games for an hour or so before Tony fell asleep.


End file.
